Stormers win scrappy encounter as Feinberg-Mngomezulu suffers more injury heartbreak

If this match was a Christmas gift, it would be one of those the recipient would want to return to the store. 

The Stormers won a messy United Rugby Championship (URC) encounter and — given their recent travails featuring four straight defeats — it was a much needed outcome. However, there were too many basic errors for their coaching staff’s liking. 

A plethora of knock-ons, wayward passes and balls just dropped littered this dire encounter, which only came to life late in the second half, as the Lions courageously sought to make a comeback. 

But the play from both teams was frantic and any attempt to accelerate the tempo resulted in mistakes. 

The Stormers lacked rhythm, a result of confidence being absent given recent results, but their forwards did gain the ascendancy in the opening quarter, allowing hooker Joseph Dweba to score the first of his two tries — both from lineout mauls.

What was proving to be a difficult afternoon for the Lions became harder when lock Ruben Schoeman was justifiably red-carded for a reckless cleanout of Manie Libbok at a ruck. 

Suleiman Hartzenberg took advantage of gaps in the Lions defence, breaking through tackles on the halfway line to spark a move that he finished off after another typically accurate cross-field kick from Libbok. 

The Springbok flyhalf struggled from the kicking tee — missing three conversions — but masked those problems with his general play, which featured lots of deft passing. 

Unfortunately for the Stormers the Libbok/Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu combination at 10 and 12 didn’t make an impression after the latter suffered yet another injury blow.

Before yesterday’s encounter Feinberg- Mngomezulu dismissed talk of returning to the national set-up, saying he wanted to focus on the Stormers, and put together a run of matches for his franchise, free of injury. He will hope the latest ailment won’t hamper that ambition. 

The Lions showed plenty of endeavour in the second half, despite being a man down, with left-wing Edwill van der Merwe producing a moment of individual magic, to spark a revival. But despite a cleverly worked lineout move that saw hooker Franco Marais score, and reduced the deficit to 12 points, they were unable to sustain the momentum they created. 

Neethling Fouche finished off a move that featured nifty handling from Warwick Gelant, to put a seal on what was an important victory for the Stormers. Director of rugby John Dobson described yesterday’s match as “not a million miles away from being do-or-die,” and the lift it will give his team will be crucial before they round off their year against the Sharks next week. 

Scorers

Stormers 29 (15) — Tries: Joseph Dweba (2), Suleiman Hartzenberg, Leolin Zas, Neethling Fouche. Conversions: Manie Libbok (2) 

Lions 10 (0) — Tries: Edwill van der Merwe, Franco Marais